Gaven is showing to Adu the meaning of the word "humility and professionalism" I really hope he learn the basic of this principle before is too late for him....
Where are we in the Freddy saga you ask? Why the very most intertesting point! The point where: -young high priced phenom has not shown anything but "potential" -young phenom forgets early promises and begins shooting mouth off to press about wanting more pt -coach now presented with dilemna of whether or not to discipline player, like he would any other player -other players on team watch expectantly, waiting to see if they are on a real team with everyone treated equally, or a travelling circus Oh the drama!
We are at the familiar part of a lot of young phenom saga's. -The player enters with a great deal of hype and doesn't live up to expectations. -After a while we stop paying attention to the young phenom. -He adjusts to the situation and starts to produce on the field. -Some take notice while most ignore and by the end of the season we all look back and realize that he did all right. If not then it will take time like Gaven, Buddle, Eddie Johnson and Justin Mapp.
This thread is painfully short of data. Try this: Take a list of the top AMERICAN strikers in MLS who are/will be competing for a spot on the National Team. He's one such list: Twellman, Buddle, Johnson, Razov, Magee, Wolyniec, Noonan, Arnaud, Wolff, Cunningham Look at their minutes on field, and compare goals/assists/points. In the case of Freddy, I include MLS+ the Rochester game- in which he scored- simply because I do think that was regular match conditions (big crowd, opponent of MLS-caliber (or close) and eager to prove itself). For the others, I just looked at their MLS stats- since I don't know if the have (had) their Rochester equivelents. In this comparison, Freddy's stats are better (goals per minutes/points per minutes) then almost every striker on the list. Despite the fact he is barely 15, despite hardly a pre-season, despite all the interview/endorsement pressure and hype, despite his constantly changing role, and the fact a key teammate seems to not like to combine w/him so much (Moreno). So, things are on track overall. Of course, this was to be a 'growing pains' year. I had Freddy targeted for 5 goals overall, and 7 goals if things worked out very optimistically- he is right on that track. Also, I expected a good (production) start, and dip middle of season, and then a burst at end. I think we still get that. Next year, this will all be mute. Freddy will start and play most every minute. He will be in the upper 1/3 to 1/4 in pt. production, and the growth in his game will be measurable. Sit back and enjoy the ride. He's doing fine.
I tried to edit last post, but ran out after 15 min. Of course, the spelling is moot. And measurable should have been immeasurable. Freddy is basically tied or at top of both lists (goals per minutes, points per minutes). The rest of his game will get there in fits and starts. No biggie
I don't think the points per minute statistic is really very meaningful considering we're talking about 3 total goals (one of which was a ball than rolled through the defenders legs and fell to him right in front of goal... even Convey couldn't have missed it!). On the positive side, Freddy's goal v. Rochester, and especially his goal v. the Gals, show his immense potential. At 15yo, he already has some great ball skills and has solid finishing ability. That stuff can't be taught. On the down side, his body definitely needs some time to mature. Right now he is simply not physically strong enough to play with many MLS defenders... it may take a couple years for him to overcome this. I would stress patience before throwing expectations out there with a 12-month outlook. That seems ambitious to me. My overall complaint about his play would be that he seems to be low on tactical awareness, and definitely has a tendency to want to dribble when he has open players streaking in on goal. This has been somewhat less of a problem recently, but he still needs to get better at using his teammates when he has a numerical advantage. He also has a tendency to look quite lost, and more importantly, to play at half-speed for long periods of time (especially when pressuring opponents), like he's saving energy. This is especially frustrating when he enters the game in the 75th minute to add suposedly fresh legs. The lack of tactical awareness is to be expected given his age, but the half-speed somewhat troubles me. Hopefully increased intensity will come with time along with the increased tactical awareness. At this point, I think it's way too early to annoint this kid as the next superstar, or a bust for that matter. We won't know either way for quite a while. (Just think where we would have expected Santino Quaranta to be three years ago... sometimes players don't fulfill their lofty youth expectations.) With the way Eskandarian has been playing, the fact that Esky and Adu are too small to pair together, and the fact that Gros is establishing himself on the left wing, I think Freddy may be coming off the bench for another season or two. I would be stunned to see him playing like Gaven is now in 12 months. For DCU's sake I hope so, but I doubt it. Also, I have no idea why you think Moreno is not interested in passing to him. I haven't witnessed that. If anything, Adu is the one who could be accused of looking selfish at times, although hopefully this is just his age and inability to realize the options he has around him.
I think we just have to be patient with Freddy progress, he has to keep working being humble and taking advantage of every single minute he is in the field. So far he has two goals (MLS) . One of them a world class goal against LA. I totally agree with you about Moreno no passing the ball to Freddy. I don't want to think that there is envy or jelousy. ( I doubt Moreno will score a goal the caliber Freddy did)
Well, if in his 15 minutes a game he showed some of Gaven's attitude, spirit, and intensity, perhaps he wouldn't have to be envious.
People can say what they want about Donovan's bi*ch attitude (which I personally feel is way over-blown - I can say what I want! ), but one thing you won't find is Donovan complaining about his teammates/coaches. He may talk about the other team and the refs, but he's not ever going to rag on his coach or teammates (which is what our beloved Freddy has done, whether you like to admit it or not - complaining about playing time, complaining about teammates not passing the ball to him, talking about how good you're playing but not getting into the game, I could go on -- that's a put-down of your coach and your teammates.)
Who would have thought the development of two younger American players would be such a disappointment around here? Instead of focusing on the lack of Adu playing time, look at Gros and Eskandarian. If they're the reason Adu's on the bench, I'm all for it. It's making the league better, and it's helping the national pool. Adu is 15 -- he'll get his chance when he's ready.
The Freddy saga ... To me, an interesting sidebar of the Freddy saga is the Eurosnobbism underlying some of Freddy's support. When Freddy was on the U17 team, we heard often that he was "too good" for that team. Well, I do believe that he was superior technically to any player on that squad and that he was probably the best athlete. But when you watched the U17 matches, it sure didn't seem like Freddy was somehow playing a different game than the rest of the guys. He played the same game. He just did more with the ball when he got it. When Freddy first joined DCU, a lot of people defended his apparent low energy level by talking about how Pele would stroll around the field for 89 minutes, and score 2 goals in the other minute. Some directly contrasted his style with headless chicken hustle, a la Frankie Hejduk. Some went further, talking about how Americans overvalue hustle, and undervalue subtle things like positioning. Eurosnobbery, in other words. The truth is much simpler. Freddy is not ahead of his teammates in this respect. He is not a wise foreign-born player who has a deeper, richer understanding of the game than do U.S.-born players. (Even those dreaded suburban players who were driven to practices in minivans.) On the contrary, he is distinctly unwise when it comes to appreciating the pace & energy demanded of a professional. He plays too slowly. In short, he plays like a youth. As do other U.S. youths. Which is hardly surprising. He is a youth.
Trade Freddy to LA for Kirovski already! DC's fans will be happy they got a forward who plays defense, and I'll be happy to watch the US's most talented player develop.
I mean, DC is 4-5-5 for crying out loud. You'd think Freddy was not playing because they had Shevchenko partnered with Fabiano and were 12-0-1 or something!
I think where we ar ewith Freddy is where any talented rookie woudl be if he were not getting the playing minutes he thinks he deserves. We have that a bit with Nunez here in Dallas. These guys are used to playing a lot but they get up here with the big boys and we see they still have a lot left to learn. Whether they see it or not. Two more things - Freddy is still 3 years younger than LeBron or Carmelo and he still has growing as a person as well as a player to do. Also - we're not quite halfway thru the season. He shoudl get more playing time as the season goes on. Its still far too early to try and divine some sort of impact. If he wants to play more, he will have to play better.
I want MLS teams to play the best players on the roster. With all the pressure to play Freddy, don't you think if he was one of the best on the club, he'd be starting? Please. He's not playing because right now, he doesn't deserve too. If anything, he's getting the benefit of the doubt that no other player could ever hope to get.
Not to nit pick...but Freddy just turned 15 this month. He's 4 1/2 years younger than LeBron, and 5 years younger than Carmelo. It's alot more of a difference.
Well to make it simple Freddy Adu need to work more his smile and get rid of his primadona attitude, somebody need to tell Adu that his smile and carisma does more for him that anything else....Come on Freddy be nice, be tidy, or be critiziced
What I don't understand is the reluctance to play him more often and start him occassionally. It isn't like he's knocking out Trezeguet or Henry out of the lineup. Eskandarian's had a nice two game run here so he should stay in, but Jaime Moreno has looked atrocious since the first couple of games of the season. Freddy hasn't played great, but he's had plenty of company on DC United. Neither Stewart nor Convey have been worth anything and Carroll is merely adequate. Freddy hasn't looked great, but he hasn't played himself into probable A-leaguer like David Stokes did. When Convey and Stewart were away with the Nats, it was a perfect opportunity to get Freddy some playing time, but Nowak instead begged for Stewart back for the first game and then chose to play all three of the other strikers (including Cerritos) at once ahead of him in the other.
Tactically speaking, it would have been better for Freddy to go to a team that plays a 4-4-2. He played well out wide with the U-20s, but no coach is gonna stick him at left wingback and ask him to play that kind of defense. On a 4-4-2 team, he'd get the occasional start wide left, up top, and maybe even central midfield, just due to injuries. And his coach would have more tactical options for bringing Freddy in as a sub.
how many times has freddy spoken out about this? once. I do not think that is enough to deserve the "little b*tch" comments. I'm no freddy apologist, i have all along expected for the first few years for him to be an average MLS player. and so far I'm right with that assesment. However except for that one incident freddy has seemed nothing but grateful for his chance to play with the pros.